Posted by Nolol on 2/13/2012, 3:21 am, in reply to "What band do you consider to be simultaneously overrated and underrated?"
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Well, clearly we have differing opinions on U2, but that's neither here nor there.
If I had to pick a band that I like a lot that's both overrated and underrated, it'd probably be Death Cab For Cutie, though it's not in the same way you described.
I have a real soft spot for Death Cab. I have no idea why. I know most people find them boring, but I really like them. At any rate, I feel like their early period is overrated by their fans, and the band as a whole is underrated by music geeks like us, particularly their later period.
Not that I think their early stuff is bad, but I don't really think it's considerably better than their more recent material. Actually, I think they're surprisingly consistent, and, in fact, the album of theirs I like the least (The Photo Album) is from their early period, and is one of their more well-liked ones for some reason. For the record, though, I do agree with the consensus that Transatlanticism is their best album.
So, probably not quite what you had in mind when you made this topic, but they do fit the category of "both overrated and underrated" in my mind.
--Previous Message--
: Essentially a band where you consider their
: classic period to be grossly overrated but
: their other period to be grossly underrated.
:
: Where you believe the band to achieved
: greatness due to their less known work.
:
: To me the band with that status is U2 (I'm
: pretty curious about how John rates them but
: I think this is going to take a while before
: U2 is reached).
:
: I have heard that their classic period was
: between War and Achtung Baby and I knew the
: hit songs from that period and thought the
: 'best of' compilation to be great. Then I
: listen to all those albums and was convinced
: that U2 were frauds and that the convinced
: the public that they are an all time great
: band by writing great singles but were
: unable to consistently reproduce that with
: their albums. I pretty much consider the
: "classic period" album to be
: guilty of great first half and disappointing
: 2nd half. Only Achtung Baby was consistent
: from start to finish (although it did lack
: the emotional resonance from the peak
: singles of that era though).
:
: For a while I thought they were a grossly
: overrated band and were a 2 star artist.
: Then I listen to Zooropa album which had
: very mixed critical reaction, and was just
: blown away. Lemon is my favourite U2 studio
: recorded song (my favourite U2 song is the
: Rattle and Hum live version of Sunday Bloody
: Sunday) and I was just blown away by the
: melodies and the beautiful arrangement of
: that song. Although the first album was
: better than the 2nd half, the 2nd half was
: also entertaining as well.
:
: Then I listen to Boy and I think it is in my
: top 5 debut albums (Roxy Music, Jimi
: Hendrix, Joy Division and then U2) where
: most people just tend to place it as a
: promising debut but in mind it's there best
: album. It's sort of the light side of post
: punk. Really catchy pop songs with thumbing
: bass and rhythm section and I just loved
: Edges soaring guitar there.
:
: Apparently October was considered a
: disappointing follow up album but I really
: have no idea why because this is Edge at his
: peak as a guitarist and this is the album
: where he developed his trademark sound. HE
: just breathes life to every single song of
: the album and the album would be just as
: interesting without the vocals.
:
: Those 3 albums elevated U2 in a 4 star band
: for me.
:
: SO what band would fulfill the simultaneous
: overrated and underrated status for you?
:
:
:
